The academy functioned like a kingdom—intricate, layered, merciless.
It had its rulers, its nobles, its outcasts.
And then—there were those who lurked beneath the surface.
Watching. Waiting. Breathing secret patterns into the very stones of the institution.
And tonight, Arashi had touched a thread that led straight into the abyss.
Arashi sat on his bed, the silver insignia of The Unknown Masks resting in his palm.
Moonlight filtered through the narrow window, casting silver-edged shadows that seemed to dance around the artifact.
'A secret society within the academy?'
Interesting.
What was more interesting—they were watching him. Not just watching. Studying. Measuring.
'But why?'
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door.
Kaito peeked in, frowning. The lines of worry etched into his face deeper than usual. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
'Worse. I might have just met one.'
The morning light had barely kissed the academy walls when the first rumor spread like wildfire.
Whispers carried on cool autumn winds, catching in corners and hallways.
Something had happened in the restricted zone last night.
Something dangerous.
Something that would change everything.
And Arashi wasn't the only one who noticed.
As he stepped into the main courtyard, a familiar presence was waiting for him.
The stones beneath his feet seemed to shift, to acknowledge her arrival before she even spoke.
Kagura Ayame.
Her eyes—sharp as cut crystal, deep as forgotten wells—studied him. Each glance was a dissection, precise and ruthless. "You were somewhere you shouldn't have been."
Arashi met her gaze, unreadable. A mask within a mask. "So were you."
A flicker of amusement danced across her features. Barely there. Gone in an instant. "Touché."
She stepped closer, voice lowering until it was almost a caress of sound.
"Whatever you've uncovered… be careful. The academy is built on more than just magic. Some things are meant to stay buried. Forgotten."
Arashi smiled faintly. A razor's edge of a smile. "And if I like digging?"
Her expression didn't change. But something—a microscopic shift in the air—suggested danger.
"Then make sure you're the one holding the shovel."
And with that, she walked away. Her footsteps echoed like distant warning bells.
By the time Arashi reached the lecture hall, something was off.
The air was too still. Too charged. Like the moment before lightning strikes.
Then, he saw why.
A student was missing.
Renji—the noble who had challenged him just days ago. Arrogant. Loud. Certain of his own power.
Gone.
No explanation. No warning.
The only trace left behind was a single, whispered rumor that seemed to slither through the academy's corridors.
"He stepped beyond his place."
And now—he had vanished.
Arashi's fingers brushed against the insignia in his pocket. Cold. Alive.
The Unknown Masks.
Were they watching him? Testing him?
Or… was this their warning?
The academy was alive with speculation. Rumors coiled like serpents, striking from unexpected angles.
Renji had vanished.
Some claimed he had fled in shame—a noble's desperate escape from humiliation.
Others whispered of darker fates. Whispers that carried the weight of unspoken threats, of consequences that lurked just beyond perception.
But no matter the rumor, one name kept surfacing like a blade emerging from darkness.
Kurobane Arashi.
He walked through the academy halls, his presence now a living thing. A presence that shifted the very atmosphere around him.
Before, students had ignored him—background noise in the grand symphony of the academy. Now, their gazes lingered. Weighted. Calculating.
Some curious.
Some cautious.
And a few… admiring.
'Took them long enough.'
The murmurs followed him like a trailing shadow.
"He was the last one to talk to Renji."
"I heard he never even flinched when Renji challenged him."
"There's something about him... something unsettling."
Good.
Let them wonder.
In the training grounds, students gathered like moths to a flame.
The air hummed with tension, with unspoken challenges. Arashi didn't need to look to know who the center of attention was.
Takeda Renji's former lackeys—now desperate to prove themselves in his absence. Vultures circling a corpse, seeking their moment.
One of them, a tall noble named Gaius, carried himself like a weapon.
His sneer was a blade, aimed directly at Arashi. "You got lucky, magic-less. But luck won't save you forever."
The words hung in the air. Desperate. Pathetic.
Arashi tilted his head, amusement a subtle curve of his lips. "And what will? Blind arrogance?"
Gaius stiffened. A cornered animal sensing a predator.
Before he could respond, laughter cut through the tension. Not loud. Not sharp. But precisely placed.
A girl with silver-streaked hair and eyes that missed nothing.
Mikasa Veyne.
She had never spoken to him before. But now, she watched him with the intensity of someone solving a complex puzzle.
"I like the way you think," she mused, smirking. "Cold, but effective."
'Oh?'
An ally? Or another player in this intricate game?
Time would tell.
At the end of the lecture, Arashi found himself once again the focal point of scrutiny.
The lecture hall seemed to contract and expand around him, a living organism responding to his presence.
Kagura Ayame leaned against the doorway. Not just standing—positioned. Every movement calculated. "You're drawing too much attention," she said. A warning? A challenge?
Arashi gave her a lazy smile. Deceptively casual. "Not my fault people have nothing better to do."
She studied him. Not with eyes. With something deeper.
Something that seemed to look through flesh and bone, into the very essence of who he was.
Then, unexpectedly—she smirked. A razor's edge of understanding.
"Maybe. Or maybe... they sense something they can't explain."
She pushed off the wall and strode past him, pausing only to whisper:
"Even I'm starting to wonder, Kurobane."
Then, she was gone. The air still vibrated with her presence.
Arashi exhaled slowly.
'So… even she's watching now.'
A part of him should have been concerned.
Instead?
He found it amusing.
And dangerous.
The academy had changed.
Or rather—its perception of Arashi had changed.
Where there were once disdainful sneers, there was now calculated curiosity.
Where there was dismissal, there was now hesitation.
Where there was mockery, there were now whispers.
Some still called him magic-less. Others weren't so sure anymore.
Either way, Arashi could feel it—the weight of their eyes.
And he welcomed it.
The morning lecture hall buzzed like a hive of restless insects. Whispers. Glances. Calculations.
Professor Alden, an elderly man whose sharp gaze could slice through illusions, scrawled runes onto the board.
Ancient symbols that seemed to breathe with hidden meanings. His voice echoed across the grand chamber, a rhythm beneath the undercurrent of tension.
"The theory of magical convergence states that mana naturally flows toward sources of higher density..."
Arashi barely listened.
Instead, he observed.
Kagura Ayame sat at the front, taking notes with methodical precision. Each stroke of her quill a calculated movement.
Mikasa Veyne leaned back, tapping a quill against her chin. Stealing glances. Measuring. Analyzing.
And at the far end of the hall—a new face.
A noble boy. Blue hair like midnight. Green eyes that held no warmth. Just intent.
A quiet presence that screamed danger.
His gaze, unlike the others, wasn't filled with speculation or doubt.
It was filled with something colder.
Intent.
Arashi met his stare.
The boy didn't look away.
'Oh?'
A challenge.
After class, Arashi found himself blocked. Not physically—strategically. A human chess piece positioned with calculated precision.
The blue-haired noble stood in the hallway, just enough to force an interaction. The architecture of confrontation.
Arashi sighed internally.
'How predictable.'
Still, he played along.
"A moment of your time, Kurobane."
The noble's voice was smooth. Polite. But underneath—steel.
Arashi tilted his head, feigning curiosity. "Oh? You know my name."
"Everyone does."
"Flattering."
The noble ignored his sarcasm. Focused. Precise.
"Leonhart Vassel," he introduced himself. "Third in line to House Leonhardt, younger brother to the student council president."
A powerful family. Not on Kagura Ayame's level, but respected. Feared.
And most importantly—ambitious.
Leonhardt studied him. Not with eyes. With something deeper. A predator's calculation.
"I was watching you."
"I noticed."
"And I've come to a conclusion."
Arashi raised an eyebrow. A minimal gesture. Revealing nothing.
"Do tell."
Leonhardt's green eyes gleamed. Not with emotion. With something sharper. More dangerous.
"You're dangerous."
A beat of silence.
Then—Arashi smiled.
Not wide. Not exaggerated. Just a small, knowing curve of his lips.
"Am I?"
Leonhardt crossed his arms. A defensive posture that felt more like a weapon.
"Renji was arrogant. He relied on power alone."
He stepped closer. The space between them charged with potential energy.
"You? You don't show anything. You don't act out. You let others assume your weakness. And yet—"
He exhaled sharply.
"The moment you move, the entire academy feels it."
A pause.
Then—Leonhart smirked.
"You're not as invisible as you think, Kurobane."
Arashi studied him for a moment. Layers within layers.
Then, casually—he walked past him.
Leonhardt didn't stop him.
But before Arashi disappeared down the hall, he heard him say:
"I wonder… what you're really after."
Arashi didn't answer.
Because that was a question he intended to let them all suffer over.